Kuala Lampur, Aug. 20 -- A tale of two realities in one city.

In Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle, gleaming towers rise, and million-ringgit condominiums stand like monuments to prosperity. Life here unfolds in modern air-conditioned comfort.

Barely a kilometre away, in the concrete and dilapidated blocks of Perumahan Awam Hang Tuah, Mak Cik Siti sits at her kitchen table, counting ringgit notes and wondering if this month's RM124 rent will leave enough for her child's university expenditure.

The collision of these two realities, prosperity and precarity, has the potential to redefine Malaysia's urban landscape.

Malaysia's proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA) would speed up the redevelopment of ageing urban housing by replacing unanimity wi...